


Crossfire

by ExpressAndAdmirable



Series: The Heroes of Light [58]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Dungeons & Dragons - All Media Types, Final Fantasy I
Genre: Backstory, Execution, Fear, Gen, Mob Mentality, Othering, Racism, Tiefling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-24
Updated: 2018-01-24
Packaged: 2019-03-09 02:20:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13471635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExpressAndAdmirable/pseuds/ExpressAndAdmirable
Summary: Lux attends an extremely rare event in her home kingdom: a public execution.





	Crossfire

“Aviva? What are you doing here?”

Resisting the urge to shrink back even further into the mouth of the alley, Lux turned to see Philippa making her way towards her through the press. It had been some time since she had seen her father’s former colleague, a broad, strong Human with a sun-bleached cloth tied over her black hair and a large boning knife at her belt. Normally her dark eyes were full of laughter, but upon seeing Lux her face had darkened with almost maternal concern. She drew close, peeking under the Tiefling’s hood to meet her eye, her voice low. “Does your ma know you’re here?”

Lux offered a small shrug, lifting her head to scan the crowded courtyard and avoid Philippa’s probing look. “They said one was a Tiefling. I came to see.”

Philippa pursed her lips. “This isn’t something you want to see, Aviva.” The Tiefling shrugged again; the Human sighed and folded her arms, following her gaze out across the crowd.

The scaffold had been erected overnight, a small structure jutting from the building behind it that nonetheless dominated the wide courtyard. Taller than the heads of the citizens gathered around it, the wood fresh and unmarred, it would have made a lovely performing stage had it not supported a huge, dark wooden block placed directly in the centre. An indentation in the front of the block pointed the path to the shallow wicker basket placed beneath. The block had been cleaned, doubtless cleaned many times, but some stains are meant to remain.

Just as the assembled crowd was beginning to grow restless, the spectacle began. A door in the building behind the scaffold opened, revealing an imperious Human dressed in the royal colours. She stepped out onto the building’s balcony, then ascended the specially constructed steps from the stone to the wooden platform, her skirts trailing gracefully behind her. A hulking Half-Orc in black followed her, a huge and wicked-looking axe in her hands. They took up positions on either side of the block and shared a quiet, significant look before the seneschal turned to face the courtyard.

Producing a scroll from her belt, the seneschal announced that on that day, in the eyes of gods and mortals, a grave threat to the kingdom would be ended. The condemned, tried and convicted in fair court, would today face sentence. She went on to detail the crimes of the condemned: plotting with divers others to assassinate the goodly King and his family, to bring chaos upon the realm and to defy the will of the gods. High treason, for which there is only one appropriate sentence.

Lux watched the crowd. While the seneschal’s voice rang clearly across the courtyard, her tone was solemn, not provocative. It was clear her announcement gave her no joy, nor did she wish to incite such joy in others; she was there purely to make a point. Lux respected that. Still, murmurs rippled through the assembly. Everyone in the city had heard the rumours, had seen the investigators at work, but to hear it confirmed by a court official was something entirely new.

At long last, flanked by a pair of armoured guards, the condemned stepped out the door. One tall, scruffy Human, his hands bound behind him, striding up onto the platform with the air of a cleric ready to recite a benediction. His serenity enraged the onlookers, murmurs turning to shouts and jeers. How could he? they asked. How _dare_ he? He kept his gaze lowered, but smiled softly. There would be no pleas for mercy, no apologies in his final moments. He had made his peace.

Captivated by the theatricality of the scene playing out onstage, no-one seemed to notice the royal guards quietly slipping into place around the edges of the courtyard. Lux nodded to herself. At least they were taking precautions with their melodrama.

The seneschal raised a hand for silence, and when she spoke again, her tone was one of sorrowful disappointment. This man, she declared, was an enemy not just of the Crown, but of all that was good and decent in the world. In conspiring against the monarchy, in all its divinity, glory and grace, he and his cohorts plotted to upset the natural order of every living thing. Such an affront to the dignity of the kingdom must. not. stand. The crowd roared.

Lux frowned. This didn’t seem right. She dipped her head towards Philippa, never taking her eyes from the scene. “Where are the others?”

Glancing quickly at the Tiefling, Philippa offered a slight shrug of one shoulder. “Probably decided to keep their executions private. Why show off the whole gang when you can put on just as much of a show with the ringleader?” Lux chewed her lip, unable to place the feeling of unease that had come over her.

The condemned was led to the block, where he sank to his knees without argument. He took a moment to position himself, then leaned forward, resting his neck helpfully into the divot in the wood. As the executioner readied herself for the fatal blow, the condemned’s hands, still bound behind his back, twitched.

“Ah,” he said, his smiling voice magically booming throughout the courtyard, “but are my friends not still among you?”

Even through the sudden rush of sound, excited tittering turning to anxious, frightened clamouring as people processed the condemned’s words, Lux heard the sickening thud of the axe as it embedded itself in the bloodstained wood. Freed from its body, the head fell heavily into the basket beneath. Crimson life oozed from behind the axe's blade. It was done.

From the look on the seneschal’s face, she still hoped to conclude the performance with only the briefest epilogue, but the crowd had other plans. They wanted to know what the condemned had meant by his statement. _Did_ he have more friends? Again the seneschal raised her hands for silence, but this time the assembly was not so easily moved. Suddenly, they wanted proof that all the conspirators had been captured. They had been _told_ it was so, but did they really know? They wanted reassurance that their city was safe, that the King was safe, that _they_ were safe. Who were his friends? Were they still out there, sowing the seeds of chaos? They could be right here in this very courtyard. They could be a friend, a family member. They could be anyone.

Her eyes darting between the increasingly agitated citizens and the guards ringing the courtyard, Lux leaned a half-step back into the alley. “I need to go.” She kept her breathing even, but her heart was thumping painfully in her chest. The condemned’s last act had been to light a match too close to a powder keg, and she understood better than most the insidious and dangerous forces at play. The conspirators could be anyone, but every rumour agreed one was definitely a Tiefling. People this high on their own fear would not discriminate in their quest for a scapegoat.

Philippa nodded curtly and slid forward, positioning herself in front of Lux, watching the crowd’s spiralling panic with an expression that could only be read as a challenge. “Go.”

Lux stepped back a few paces further, and once she was sure she was safely obscured by shadow, she turned on her heel and hurried from the courtyard. Later, once the temperature of the city had cooled, she would find Philippa and express the gratitude her hasty exit precluded. Philippa had assisted her mother after her father died, the Human’s fondness for her family manifesting in gruff, steadfast protectiveness. She sometimes suspected Philippa and Esperance had brushed with being more than friends in the years since Zahak’s passing, but it had never blossomed. Regardless, she thanked the gods for the woman’s presence.

Moving rapidly, her pace just shy of a run, Lux made her way through alleys and back streets until she reached her mother’s shop. She closed the door as she entered, locking it behind her and moving immediately to shutter the windows.

“V?” Esperance called, coming around the counter with a confused frown. “Baby, what are you doing? It’s barely four bells!”

“You’re closing early today, mama.” Once both front windows were shuttered, Aviva paused, lowering her hood and fixing Esperance with a look of deadly seriousness. “It’s for our safety.”

Esperance exhaled slowly, watching her daughter’s face. “You went to the execution, didn’t you?” Aviva nodded. “What happened?”

“Fear.”

It was all she needed to say. Esperance nodded, making her way around the shop and extinguishing the candles and lamps. In the darkness they made their way to the steps, to the safety of the flat above. They did not light a fire. Tomorrow, when the world had calmed, they would open the shop as if nothing had happened; tonight, they would pretend no-one was home.

**Author's Note:**

> Title song by Stephen.
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr at @expressandadmirable for a proper table of contents for the Heroes campaign, commissioned character art, text-based roleplay snippets and more!


End file.
